


In the Beginning...

by Soquilii9



Category: Leverage
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, Plans, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-24 14:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8375917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soquilii9/pseuds/Soquilii9
Summary: Based on The Nigerian Job





	

Nathan Ford, ex-insurance investigator, sat slumped at the hotel bar. Using the contents of a small bottle extracted from his jacket pocket, he enhanced the contents of the glass before him. _Order a double; they give you a watered down single…every time. Wait, what? Intruder Alert. Who the_ hell _is this guy?_

'I’m sorry Mr. Ford, sorry, I know who you are. I’ve, uh, excuse me.' The unwelcome interloper sat down. 'I’ve read all about you. I know for example, that … that when you found that stolen Monet painting in Florence you probably saved your insurance company what, twenty to twenty-five million dollars. Then there was that identity theft thing and you saved your insurance company I don’t even _know_ how many millions of dollars … but I just know that … when you needed them … What happened to your family is the kind of thing…'

Nate slammed his glass down. 'You know that part of the conversation where I punch you in the neck nine or ten times? We’re coming up on that pretty quick.'

'I just want to offer you a job,' said Dubenich, meekly.

'Whaddya got?'

'Do you know anything about airplane design?'

'I could give it a shot, you know, you give me a pencil and one of those little rulers …'

'Somebody stole my airplane designs!'

'Oh, I see, and you’d like me to find them, right?'

'No. I _know_ where they are. I want you to steal them _back_.'

Surprised, Nate suggested that they move their conversation to a table. He ordered another drink; Dubenich declined. 'You’re sure Pierson stole your designs?' asked Nate.

'Look, my engineer goes missing, he disappears with all my files and then one week later Pierson announces an identical project. Come _on_.'

Nate shook his head. 'I don’t know. Stealing them back, it seems like a stupid risk, there are other ways…'

'Listen. Listen to me,' said Dubenich. He sounded near tears. 'At the end of this month I have a shareholder’s meeting, Mr. Ford. I’ve spent, already, five years, a hundred million dollars on R&D. If I go to that meeting with nothing to show for it? Then I … am … dead.'

He opened a folder and passed it across the table to Nate. 'I’m serious. Look, look at the people I’ve already hired. Do you recognize any of these names?'

Nate opened and riffled through the file. 'Uh, yeah, I’ve chased all of them at one time or anoth-. Parker? You have _Parker_?'

'Is there somebody better?'

'No, but Parker is _insane_.'

'Which is why I need you.'

Nate laughed. 'No. I’m not a thief.' He closed the file.

'Thieves I got. What I need is one honest man _to watch them_. Are you in?'

'It’s not going to work; these people you hired, they all have the same rep. They work alone, they always work alone, there’s no exceptions and there’s no way they’re going to work for you.'

'No, they will, they will. For three hundred thousand dollars each, they _will_ , and for you, for running it, it’s _double_ that. And it’s off the books, completely off the books. Look at me, I’m desperate here! And that’s just the salary, there _is a bonus._ Pierson is insured by I.Y.S., your old bosses. It’s a fifty million dollar intellectual property rights policy.' He paused, thinking, and suddenly knew how to trigger a desire in Ford to work for him.

'Mr. Ford, how badly do you want to screw the insurance company that let your son die?'

-OoO-

The old warehouse was drafty and exuded the faint scents of all of its former tenants combined. There was a row of small offices built into one wall and in one of these, three young people, two men and a woman, sat in metal folding chairs spaced as far apart as possible in the small room. There was a coffee dispenser and a box of donuts laid out on a rickety table set along one wall. Three of the dozen donuts rested on the young woman's paper plate in front of her; she was gobbling a fourth. The taller of the two men dipped a plain cake donut into his coffee. The young woman made a face of repugnance.

'Ewww,' she muttered as she watched the donut draining coffee back into his cup.

The other young man poured himself a cup, ignoring the donuts. He tilted his chair back against the wall, scowling at the other two while he sipped the strong black coffee.

There was a cabinet across from the door and in the center of the room a large wooden table had been set up on which rested a laptop; its power cords trailing to the back wall outlet. Following the instructions in the text on his phone, the tall man powered up the laptop. A familiar face smiled back at them; a heavyset man with glasses and short, dark, curly hair.

_'Good morning, everyone. I see you found the refreshments I left for you. I set up this video chat to prepare you for the job I hired each of you for. What I didn't tell you … the job I have in mind … that I need done … requires a team leader. So I got you guys …'_

The two men broke out in protests.

'You got _what_? A team _leader_? Hey, I does my thang, I don't need no _leader_ to hold _my_ hand. I mean, _seriously_ …'

'I don't need _these_ guys, much less a team leader. I work _alone_. You said you were hiring _me_ for this job!'

The young woman sat frowning, cramming the last donut into her mouth. 'Are we gonna steal something? I wanna steal something,' she said, talking with her mouth full. Suddenly, she choked, coughing. The tall man sitting across from her hurried with his coffee to offer her a sip. She glanced into the cup, saw crumbs floating, and gagged. She held her plate under her chin and let the last moist, crushed remnants of the offending donut mound back onto the plate.

'Aw, _hell_ no!' said the young man, gagging himself, as he sat back down. He looked at the woman disbelievingly, as if she had crawled out of a _Mad_ magazine.

Dubenich ignored the drama, making a depreciating moue. He shrugged, hands fluttering as if their concerns were not to be taken seriously. _'Look, I called all of you in to meet this guy. I know you all work alone, I know your modus operandi, your techniques, your preferences. But I need one man to plan this job and see that it's carried out. It's my airplane designs that I want back and I **can't allow** **any freewheeling on this deal!'**_

Dubenich glowered, raising his voice. His manner had changed from jovial to harsh by the time he finished speaking. _'Do we understand each other?'_

'Whatever,' said the tall man, shrugging. 'Couldn't get this job done _without_ me anyway, I tell you that right now.'

_'How about the rest of you?'_ asked Dubenich.

'Okay,' the little blonde pouted. 'You couldn't do it without _me, either_ ,' she mumbled under her breath.

'You're wasting my time, Dubenich.' This from the man who hadn't moved a muscle since he arrived. He bolted the last of his coffee and crushed the cup in his hand.

_'Just so we understand each other.'_   Dubenich could be seen onscreen tapping numbers into a smart phone. He said two words into the phone: _'All right'_   before he turned his attention back to his audience.

_'You may or may not know this gentleman. As I said, I hired him to run things. Keep you all in line, all on the same page. He should step through the door right about….wait for it…'_ Nate Ford opened the door to the small room. _'…now,'_ said Dubenich.

The tall man was on his feet, staring down at Nate suspiciously. The other man calmly looked Nate up and down. The blonde woman kept looking from one face to another, confused, trying to gauge the reactions that poured forth like molten lava.

'I _ain't_ workin' with _him_.'

'Is this a _sting,_ Dubenich? Cops waitin' around the corner to nab us?'

'Who _is_ that? …I didn't do it.'

_'Relax, relax, people,'_ said the man in the video chat. _'This is Nate Ford. It appears as if at least one of you knows the man … or knows_ of _him …'_

'Yeah, I know _of_   him. He was two seconds away when I ducked behind that Veronese. It hangs over a small door. Bet you didn't know the Louvre connects to the catacombs by a dumbwaiter from the 17th century, didja?'

'Oh, so _that's_ where you went,' said Nate, waving dismissively. 'And I know Hardison knows me. We've had some dealings.'

'Yes, we have,' replied the tall man, his eyes boring into Nate's.

'And I have the pleasure of knowing Parker, even if she doesn't know me.'

_'So … now that the introductions have been made…'_ said Dubenich.

'You actually expect us to take orders from this guy.'

_'Relax, Spencer, he's playing our side … for reasons … uh, that shall remain exclusively his,'_ said Dubenich, after Nate cast a cold glance in his direction. _He's not here to have any of you arrested. He's here to work_ with _you. Believe me … this man can refine your operations to a pinpoint. Get the job I hired you for done. Get my airplane designs back from Pierson Aviation. And as you all know from our individual meetings, the rewards will be substantial. You all agreed. All of you. So are you going to play nice? Or should I get another team leader?'_

There was a stony silence.

_'All right then. I'll close this down and allow the four of you to start. There are planning materials in that cabinet over there. Fresh coffee pouches, too. There's a time limit; I expect a working plan within 36 hours. If you need any equipment tell me so I can get it to you. 'Bye, now.'_ Dubenich could be seen reaching for an invisible switch. The computer screen blacked out.

The four looked at each other for a beat, then Nate took the reins. Or tried to.

'You gettin' paid for this?' asked Hardison.

Nate glanced at him. 'Same as you.'

'Ha,' said Hardison. 'Same? I think _not_ , Bra …'

'You ready to get down to business?'

Hardison shrugged. For three hundred large he'd do just about anything. Even working with an archenemy from the Dark Side who was probably getting double that. No worries. He could always figure out a way to extract it from his bank account later.

'I have my own equipment,' said Parker.

'I know, and Hardison probably has, too,' said Nate.  'At least a smart phone.  Not to mention a problem with authority.'

Hardison grinned.

'I don't need equipment,' Eliot Spencer growled.

Nate nodded knowingly at him. 'Let me start out by saying I used to be an insurance investigator. Just like a fireman or a fire investigator, I know how to set fires as well as put them out. I know how it all works from both sides; I know all the moves. All _your_ moves, because I came after all of you. You're the guys with the actual skills. If you trust me; if we work together, we can get this done.'

Nate stepped to the cabinet and extracted several items. He set up a tripod and placed a dry erase board on it, then uncapped a marker and proceeded to sketch some basic drawings. He turned to look at them like a professor in a lecture hall. 'So … Pierson Aviation, where the designs are stored. I did some preliminary work. We're talking forty stories. Top level security throughout the building; guards at monitors and patrolling every floor.'

Hardison watched him with a bemused expression. He pointed to the tripod. 'That the highest level of your technology, Bra?'

Nate ignored him. 'Now basically, what I thought we'd do is shoot a line over and two of you go in through the roof. Parker hits the twenty-fifth floor and cuts through the glass. She triggers the elevator which will show _locked_ on the guard's display. She'll also tap into the video so we can see what's going on. Dubenich told me there's a password on the R &D Phase 3 door which Hardison's going to take care of. He gets the designs and drops a virus. We go back out the same way. Now, don't forget there is a _time_ limit, people. Plus we all have to take into account what _might_ go wrong and have a backup plan … maybe several. We work together, no freelancing. Hardison sends the designs to Dubenich. And … mission accomplished. Payday.'

'You actually think that's going to work,' said Eliot.

' _I_   think it'll work,' Parker piped up.

'Hell, between what Parker can do and what I know, me and her can take care of this ourselves. We got a boss-man now; we don't need a babysitter,' he said, indicating Eliot.

Eliot glared at him.

'Oh, I think having him along will be prove to be useful,' said Nate, airily.

'If you say so. Just don't get in my way,' Hardison warned Eliot.

Nate got Parker and Hardison back on track. 'OK you two, you're the key players. So there's the basic plan. Let's get to work on refining it.'

It was ok if they ignored him.  His role wasn't that complicated.  Eliot made a fresh pot of coffee while the others hovered over the table. Nobody but Nate knew him or had the slightest idea what he was capable of. He sipped a fresh cup and watched them debate and bicker back and forth. It was almost funny. _The nerdy guy and that blonde girl might have the skills to infiltrate and grab, but it was all for nothing if they ran into trouble or couldn't get out of the building. Babysitter,_ indeed _._

 

The End


End file.
